$25-A-Gun Sales Tax Approved In Chicago Area

Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership
Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership

Washington, DC –-(Ammoland.com)- This item follows on from an article we published a month ago, whereby Ms Preckwinkle proposed a “Bullet Tax“. Since then, CCRKBA said there was a partial retreat on Cook County violence tax, but only a start.

A controversial “violence tax” on guns in the Chicago area was approved Friday by Cook County commissioners, NBCChicago.com reported.

The $25 tax on every gun purchased in the county — city law prohibits gun sales in Chicago — is meant to offset health care and other costs of gun violence, Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.

“Gun violence is a real problem for us,” she said. “It’s a problem for us in our criminal justice system and it’s a problem for us in our health care system, and I make no apologies for the proposal.”

Preckwinkle said the average shooting victim cost taxpayers $52,000 in acute care because nearly 70 percent of the victims don’t have health insurance, NBCChicago.com reported.

The vote follows a violent Chicago summer, when some weekends left multiple people killed and dozens of others injured in shootings, NBCChicago.com reported. The city’s murder rate is up 25 percent for the year, and the Cook County Jail is near capacity with 9,000-plus inmates.

The National Rifle Association ahead of the vote said the “misguided and burdensome” gun tax “continues to penalize law-abiding gun owners for exercising their fundamental right to keep and bear arms.”

The gun tax, which takes effect April 1, was passed as part of Cook County’s $2.9 billion spending plan for 2013.

As part of the budget, commissioners also approved a $1 tax increase on each pack of cigarettes, making the county’s $6.67-a-pack tax the second-most expensive in the country, behind New York at $6.86, NBCChicago.com reported. The new tax will push the price of a pack to more than $10 when it goes into effect March 1.

A gambling tax increase that commissioners also approved will impose $1,000 annually on slot machines in the county and $200 on video gambling machines. Rivers Casino in Des Plaines would be affected as well as establishments that approved video gaming.

JPFO offers the following counter proposal.
We at JPFO have a novel counter-proposal. Rather than taxing the law-abiding citizens of Chicago who purchase their firearms legally, let’s impose a crime tax. A criminal who uses a gun in the commission of a crime is subject to a $25,000 fine. A criminal who shoots someone in commission of a crime is subject to a $50,000 fine in addition to being personally responsible for medical expenses. And a criminal who can’t afford to pay the fine works in prison until he works off his debt, including the costs of incarceration.

We at JPFO are not criminologists, so we don’t know if such fines will deter crime or not. But we know for sure that they won’t penalize the law-abiding citizens of Chicago for exercising their G-d-given right to defensive arms. These fines are of course in addition to existing criminal penalties and civil liabilities.

About:
Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership Mission is to destroy “gun control” and to encourage Americans to understand and defend all of the Bill of Rights for everyone. Those are the twin goals of Wisconsin-based Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO). Founded by Jews and initially aimed at educating the Jewish community about the historical evils that Jews have suffered when they have been disarmed, JPFO has always welcomed persons of all religious beliefs who share a common goal of opposing and reversing victim disarmament policies while advancing liberty for all.

JPFO is a non-profit tax-exempt educational civil rights organization, not a lobby. JPFO’s products and programs reach out to as many segments of the American people as possible, using bold tactics without compromise on fundamental principles. Visit www.JPFO.org – Copyright JPFO 2011

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Neil

GOOD POINT by Mark: Poll taxes were ruled unconstitutional, ao a firearms tax should be the same.

-BUT-

Look at the bright side. It's a payment to offset shooting injuries, right? So if I've paid it, and I shoot some dirt bag, I'm immune to civil prosecutin / being sued, because I've already paid!

Maybe, if they want to raise money, they should look at their violent criminal element as an asset – that is, sell permits / stamps to shoot em. Kinda like an elk license in Colorado.

JUST KIDDING!

rappini

JFPO,although you have a great resolution to the problem it will never happen because the Liberals have to protect the criminals.

Mark Janness

A $25 tax and even excise taxes for that matter on fire arms is equivalent to the long prohibited poll tax that prevented some from voting.

Fire arm ownership needs to defended as the civil right that it is.